Taking heat detection to a new level of sensitivity and speed, a team of scientists at GE Global Research announced new bio-inspired nanostructured systems that could outperform thermal imaging devices available today. This discovery adds to a growing list of new capabilities that GE researchers have developed through their studies of Morpho butterfly wings.
GE scientists are exploring many potential thermal imaging and sensing applications with their new detection concept such as medical diagnostics, surveillance, non-destructive inspection and others, where visual heat maps of imaged areas serve as a valuable condition indicator.
GE’s new bio-inspired nanostructured system could enable an even broader application of thermal imaging by improving the manufacturability, image resolution, sensitivity, and response time of new systems. These advances would enable the production of more advanced systems at much lower cost.
This discovery is a result of extensive studies conducted at GE Global Research on the technological applications of photonic properties of Morpho butterfly wing scales.
